AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF) – Days after a portion of Lamar Street in Dallas was renamed Botham Jean Boulevard, legislation inspired by the life and death of Botham Jean was proposed in the Texas legislature.
It is time to create change in Texas and State Representative Carl Sherman (District 109) was poised to do just that when the 87th Texas Legislative Session began in January 2021.
Representative Carl Sherman is behind the bill, which will be known as “Bo’s Law Safe at Home.”
Jean was a Dallas resident who was killed in his own apartment by an off-duty police officer on September 6, 2018. Amber Guyger was later fired from DPD and ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison in Jean’s death. She told Police she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own before she shot him.
“The proposed legislation is meant to codify ambiguous guidelines and condemn the unnecessary use of excessive and deadly force by police against those they are sworn to serve,” Representative Sherman said.
The legislation addresses mistake of fact, body worn camera policies and use of such recording devices during an investigation. It also clarifies the castle doctrine, stating that an individual can protect their “castle,” while preventing others to cite this doctrine in the case of a person maliciously and recklessly entering another’s home and killing that person in his or her own castle.
Rep. Sherman officially announced the bill during a press conference with Jean’s family in Austin on Monday.
Listen to Clayton Neville’s story below:
Copyright 2021. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
